Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-04-13

prevail upon me to 60 down and partake
OF q jolly good feed in the chart room
Lighting fragrant Virginia, rejoined
the captain on the bridge.
BY this time my eyes had, in certain
measure, become accustomed to the styg.
ian darkness, and. looking ahead intt
the gloom, / saw sight which
nearly froze the blood in nv vein,
"a huge mass of rocks rising up cut @:
the waves directly ahead, and seemingly
not cables length away; l oven fancict
l could see the spray, flying high in air
and hear the angry roaring of the billowi
as they burst upon the rocks. my God.
cried. Land ahead"
Have you just now seen thatIn inquired
the captain, calmly.
But we arc heading dead upon i'll"
Exactly" he said coolly; THAT Is the
southwest extremity of the Island O:
LISA, and the southeast extremity of
little rocky islet lying west of it, but yoy
do not see the strait which separats them
Indeed, you would scarcely perceive it il
daytime il you did not know exactly where
II was"
But surely you are not going TO try u
pass through there and ON a night lik,
thisP'
''Do you think am going around and los,
forty miles when that wretched old maj
down there in the cabin is counting evc-y
throb Of the propeller while his heart is
bleeding for his only childp he asked
savagcly.
Then l commended my soul to Him who
gave it and resigned myself TO my fato
TO convey to your mind some idea Of what
foolhardy and perilous undertaking il
was, must give you slight dose OF
topography. The island Of Lissa lies about
twenty miles west of the island of Lesina
and directly in tho track Of vessels bound
up the Adriatic to Trieste; TO 90 to the
eastward of it involves doubling the island
and entails a loss of forty miles. LISA
is separated from little rocky
islet of the No Name series by
strait not moro than two hun
dred yards wide at any point By
going outside of this islet and adjacent
shoals loss OF about thirty miles is in
Cured. This strait is not lighted at ALL
nor is the depth of water to be found there
given on any chart OF the coast, as the
Austrian Government probably supposed
that no one would be foolhardy enough
TO attempt the passage. / do not think
even fishing boat would care to risk it in
the finest weather. Imagine, then, how
comfortable / must have felt at the pros
pect of this wild, tempcstuous night
amid the shrieking OF the blast, the hoarse
roar OF the thunder, the distant boom Of
the breakers and the baleful glare OF the
lightning. l ventured to ask Captain
NJ II he knew the prevailing set
Of the current and the depth OF
watcr. Eyes" he replied; ION my
voyage down to the PirHus last month ]
hove to of the island and took soundings:
found scant five fathoms, with q current
setting TO the north at the rate Of one knot
per hour. With this wind you may add
three knots to that, which, at the rate she
Is going, ought 20 carry US through in ten
minutes"
AT any rate you could not accuse the
man of rushing to his fate hliudfoldcd. We
were now within half a mile of tho en-.
trance TO the strait, and the laundering
crash Of the billows on the iron-bound
coast had grown horribly distinct. At
every lurid flash of lightning l caught q
glimpse of the clouds of spray flung high in
air by the angry waves as they broke N adly
on the rocks, and thought what short work
they would make of the Adria II the
least miscalculation threw her within
their power. Heartily did l wish that Cap
tain NJ. had refused to let me come aboard.
TWO OF the oldest quartermastcrs were
sent 10 the wheel, and the captain roared
down the spcaking-tub to the chief and
second engineers to stand by the engines
we had now entered the strait and il
was like the mouth Of hell. The grea.
towering cliffs seemed to meet in the
gloomy darkness DER head; the thunder
OF the BROKERS was deafening, and the
water all around US was seething, milky
fosm- l confidently expected to feel q
shock every moment, and the slightest
touch at the rate we were going would
have torn tho keel completely out of her.
The captains eyes were glued to his ma
rine glasses, while q faint glow, Just below
his nose, proclaimed that the shor: Pine
was still in operation.
Suddenly he cried out in italian TO the
quartermasaer: Hard a-port double
quick, round with her livelyw
The Adria swung gracefully around in
answer to her helm; l looked back The
towering ellis were far astern and the
booming OF the breakers was becoming
more faint in the distance. We had passed
the straits and were in tho open sea. The
captain slapped me Familiarity on the back
and looked as though he expected 10 be
complimented. Well, l suppose he de-
served to be, but just then | hated him
cordially for giving me such fright. II
certainly was great feat In
navigation, but then l never was
more than millly enthusiastic about
yachting. The captain now advised
me 10 go below, saying that the fun was
sll over for the night 1t is remarkable
what absurd ideas some people entertain
as to what constitutes fun. We made tho
run in thirty-three hours and some min
utes. After we rounded Cape Salvatore
and were in full view of Trieste, another
dilemma presented itself: there was a
rigid ten days quarantine maintained at
Trieste on account of cholera in the South
and East. How were we to run the block
ade Of the sanitary cordonl
Captain N. proved equal TO tho emor-
gency; as we approached tho quarantine
grounds, be ran up the Austrian naval
ensign at the jackstaff and set the ur.
gent signals n. f. at the fore: thus he
passed through as q Government dis.
patch boat Ten minutes lator we cast
anchor in Trieste harbor, and two minutes
afterward the iaunty little gig, manned by
six lusty blue jackets, shot out from the
ships side bearing the grief-strickeu
father, destined to arrive Just two hours
too late 10 find his daughter alive.
When took leave Of Captain d. and
thanked him for the courteous favor he
had shown me, he promised to call up and
SEQ me that evening. But, as the piou.
Austrians say: Mann deskt, rnd Goti L,lkt
--one hour afterwards he was arrested for
forcing quarantine and showing false COL
ors. His ardacious expedient seemed
about TO cost him dear Lindermann went
bis bal! for ten thousand forms, and sub
sequently, in consideration Of the circum-
stances. he " as acquitted.
n Journalists rrcsenco OF Mind.
buffalo Couricrl